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3,941 ratings,
4.12
average rating, 478 reviews
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published
September 1st 1996
(first published 1946)
by Harvest Books
binding
Paperback, 672 pages
literary awards
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1947)
isbn
0156004801
(isbn13: 9780156004800)
description
This landmark book is a loosely fictionalized account of Governor Huey Long of Louisiana, one of the nation's most astounding politicians. All the Kin...more
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avg 4.12
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
Read in January, 2009
recommended to Jon by:
JWL
This book has been sitting on my shelf for a good 8 months. I have known of this book and how good it was supposed to be for a while, but I have been waiting for the right time to read it. So a week before the inauguration I decided to pick it up and read...
For the last six years of the Bush2 administration I had a tendency to get myself worked up over the absurdity of it all. I think what most disturbed me about the state of politics during the time period was the fragility and mal...more
For the last six years of the Bush2 administration I had a tendency to get myself worked up over the absurdity of it all. I think what most disturbed me about the state of politics during the time period was the fragility and mal...more
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Read in May, 2008
Compelling, overstuffed, overplotted, sexist, labyrinthine, poetic, atmospheric. To me this book's status as The Great American Political Novel seems like a terrific bitter joke, because the author's vision of "politics" is comprised entirely of blackmail, physical intimidation, pork-barreling, rabble-rousing, nepotism, bribery, rigged elections, and hilariously contrived "family values" photo shoots. (I love the scene where a photographer and two aides attempt to wrestle a ...more
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Read in October, 2008
I first read this in Oct '06 and just re-read it for a discussion that was held in conjunction with this year's Louisiana Book Festival. It's amazing what one forgets in just 2 years, but what I didn't forget was Warren's lyrical way with words and structure, and the questioning, many times sardonic voice of his narrator, Jack Burden. It was a pleasure to read it again.
It took me so long to read this book in the first place because I thought it was going to be 'just' a fictionalized...more
It took me so long to read this book in the first place because I thought it was going to be 'just' a fictionalized...more
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09/02/07
Andrew
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Read in August, 2007
All the King’s Men is often promoted as a novel about politics, occasionally even the quintessential novel of American politics. While I did enjoy the portrait of Willie Stark as an archetype political boss, more interesting, to me, is the struggle of the narrator, Jack Burden, to overcome his nihilistic doubts in the face of a world governed by power. Jack claims to overcome his nihilism (“the Great Twitch”) by coming to an understanding of the morality of his own life (the personal an...more
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recommended to Mister Jones by:
My Southern Literature Teacher
For my money, I think this is the greatest book in Southern Literature exceeding Faulkner. All the King's Men is much more than the usual purported centrality of Willie Stark's political motives and final demise, and the usual shallow analogies to Huey Long; if anything, the novel's narrator, Jack Bundren, is a cynical person whose life has unraveled. I think the one scene with Jack's father will always stay vivid as the epitome of Southern Grotesque. It is a multi-layer novel--with clarity and ...more
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3 comments
This is one of my favorite novels - really, the book that helped me define what a novel even is. There's a real breadth to the action of this novel and characters that are real in ways I hadn't come across in a novel before. I found myself equally drawn to the quiet lyrical moments of this and the more declarative sections of action and character manipulation.
The overall plot - political intrigue in Louisiana politics - is so secondary to my enjoyment that I almost forget that is t...more
The overall plot - political intrigue in Louisiana politics - is so secondary to my enjoyment that I almost forget that is t...more
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Read in April, 2009
I try to hand out 5-star ratings to books that meet some minimum criteria. For one, it can’t be a 5-star in my rating system if offensive language is prolific. That is the reason I stepped this book down from a 5-star to s 4-star. I would just caution that the language used in many cases is raw with a lot of deity degradation.
I find myself wondering at times if I’m becoming desensitized. I realize that these characters are flawed and that they are probably not true repr...more
I find myself wondering at times if I’m becoming desensitized. I realize that these characters are flawed and that they are probably not true repr...more
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Read in June, 2008
This book was unlike anything I have ever read before and I doubt I will read many of its caliber ever again. It is an epic, biblical, human yet quintessentially American saga, disguised in the bizarre circumstances surrounding a particular brand of local Southern politics. In Willie Stark, Penn Warren has created the ultimate American antihero -- describing to the tee the populist circus the campaign trail becomes, with Willie playing off the parasitic needs of potential voters and staffers and...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommended to Coy by:
Angela
I can understand why people call this a classic. It sort of reminds me of the Great Gatsby, one of my favorite novels. I can also hear the narration at the end. It's deep, nostalgic, matter of fact and meloncholy-- like saying goodbye. That reminds me of A River Runs Through It. After all is said and done, however, I can't say that All the Kings Men, to me, was as good as a River Runs Through It or Gatsby.
This I write much to the dismay of my girlfriend, who not only loves All...more
This I write much to the dismay of my girlfriend, who not only loves All...more
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Read in March, 2007
recommends it for:
history buffs/ politicos
Well, I enjoyed reading it. Things that bothered me:
1. blantant patriarchal taint. But hell, it's about politics in the 30s and written by a man, so what can you do?
2. it buttresses so many bunk assumptions about the way that the world is supposed to work. So--violence/coersion are necessary and there is no escaping exploitation. I guess that feeds into it's whole patriarchal bent. It doesn't really question the underlying premise of our society or offer alternatives.
Th...more
1. blantant patriarchal taint. But hell, it's about politics in the 30s and written by a man, so what can you do?
2. it buttresses so many bunk assumptions about the way that the world is supposed to work. So--violence/coersion are necessary and there is no escaping exploitation. I guess that feeds into it's whole patriarchal bent. It doesn't really question the underlying premise of our society or offer alternatives.
Th...more
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Read in September, 2005
This book grabbed me by the collar and pulled me in when I picked it up at the bookstore and I couldn't breath until I finished it.
This is exactly what American politics, in the essential or fundamental sense, are about. Innocense gets you into the game, experience gets you further, ruthlessness gets you ahead.
Its narrated with zest and sarcasm and this particular version is great because it throws in all of Warren's original extras- references, allusions, extra pl...more
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Read in February, 2009
recommends it for:
Michael Emerson fans!
Whew, I finally made it! I thoroughly enjoyed this story, although I have to confess I don't think audiobooks are really my bag. I kept spacing out while listening, and had to replay the same passages over and over. Which I loved, because I can never get enough of Michael Emerson's voice and the impossibly cute way he has of saying words that begin with "wh," but it did drag a 12-hour audio into a five week experience.
I just loved the character of Jack Burden and his rando...more
I just loved the character of Jack Burden and his rando...more
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7 comments
This is one of my favorite books. In addition to writing novels, Robert Penn Warren was a poet laureate. When I was first introduced to this book I was told that it was a lyrical novel, which I assume means that its prose have rhythm and tempo. In addition to being a captivating story, the style of the book is constantly engaging. I love the description at the beginning of the novel when the characters are driving down a highway road in Mississippi at night. The author sets the tempo of the m...more
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Read in April, 2006
This tale, probably the most known work of Warren (prominent critic and one-time U.S. poet lauerate), surrounds the rise to power of a vastly influential progressive southern governor modeled on real life's "Kingfish" Huey Long.
Though both film renditions have wone certain acclaim, one should really disregard them for two different awful manglings of the plot. The novel, however, particularly when considered as an American political novel, is exemplar to say the least.
Though both film renditions have wone certain acclaim, one should really disregard them for two different awful manglings of the plot. The novel, however, particularly when considered as an American political novel, is exemplar to say the least.
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Read in April, 2009
In a word, this book is written: confidently. The prose flows naturally and smoothly, descriptions and anecdotes go on and on (though to the point, sometimes, of superfluousness), and everything just sort of comes together nicely due to the author's and, to some extent, the narrator's confidence in telling the story. It was definitely an enjoyable book to read, despite the times I felt I was being dragged along unnecessarily. Having finished the book and gained a complete respect for RPW's writi...more
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Read in May, 2009
Unfortunately tagged a "classic" and thereby shunned by most readers, this novel, now over sixty years after its publication, has a surprisingly modern sensibility through Jack Burden, its narrator.
Read it for the richness and lilt of its language, the precision of its prose, its dead-on dialogue, the way it shuffles its chronology (unusual in a novel of its era) in the service of its central idea, that history is something that not only impacts us, but we are part of in ...more
Read it for the richness and lilt of its language, the precision of its prose, its dead-on dialogue, the way it shuffles its chronology (unusual in a novel of its era) in the service of its central idea, that history is something that not only impacts us, but we are part of in ...more
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Read in March, 2009
"The definitive novel about American politics," stated the New York Times, but there is actually very little politics in this book. The political world of Willie Stark (based on Huey Long, the governor and senator from Louisiana) serves as the background for the narrator, Jack Burden to act and think. His cynical world-view is very similar to mine, and that is probably why I like this book. This is one of the quotes I found entertaining: "Lois looked edible, and you know it was te...more
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Read in December, 2006
This is probably #2 on my most-often-reread list. I encountered it first in high school, and have come back to it several times throughout adulthood; every time I seem to discover something new. The characters are as richly drawn as you will find, especially Willie and Jack. Even Tiny Duffy, who you think (like Willie) you have safely tucked away in a box, turns out to surprise you with his sudden ruthlessness. The story--with its arc of fall and the search for redemption--beautifully sets the m...more
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I had to add this book after watching all the mudslinging in this campaign, the simplified messages, etc. Essential reading for understanding American politics. NOTHING has changed, except we spend less time now mulling over moral dilemmas and just go straight for the jugular, at whatever ethical cost.
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Read in February, 2009
The blurb on the back from the New York Times says this is "the definitive novel about American politics". I don't think that's correct. For real insight into politics, I'd put Advise and Consent up there, as well as any one of several novels by Ward Just; I'm sure there are others that could compete for the title.
Warren's book isn't so much about politics as about the human condition and the narrator's journey to self-awareness. The narrator, Jack Burden, is a fascinati...more
Warren's book isn't so much about politics as about the human condition and the narrator's journey to self-awareness. The narrator, Jack Burden, is a fascinati...more
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quotes from this book
"Just tell 'em you're gonna soak the fat boys and forget the rest of the tax stuff...Willie, make 'em cry, make 'em laugh, make 'em mad, even mad at you. Stir them up and they'll love it and come back for more, but, for heaven's sakes, don't try to improve their minds. "
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